"There’s a radical new informality to this scene of the 19th century seaside. A girl who has been swimming rests while the family maid combs her hair – the kind of natural moment you would look long and hard to find in any British painting from the time when Degas painted this beach in northern France. By 1874, the experimental daring of Degas and others would be labelled Impressionism. But this is not a simple “impression”. On a closer look, a family walking in beach robes look like formally posed figures from a 15th century fresco and a couple by the shore are posed like cartoonish cut outs. Degas said he finished the picture in his studio, not on the beach. It is a provocative blend of observation and irony that shows his rare and elusive artistic mind."
No comments:
Post a Comment